Surgical drapes are commonly used in the medical industry during surgical procedures. Surgical drapes serve many purposes including isolating the surgical area, protecting the patient and protecting the sterile field. Surgical drapes used in the medical industry are constantly undergoing redevelopment. One reason for redevelopment of surgical drapes is that surgical procedures change; although, there are many reasons for improving surgical drapes.
One change in surgical procedures has occurred in the procedure for performing shoulder surgery. In the past, shoulder surgery was typically performed with the patient in the so called "lateral position." In the lateral position the patient is positioned lying down laterally on the surgical table. A new patient position for shoulder surgery has been developed. The new position is the so called "beach chair" or Fowlers position. In the beach chair position the patient is seated upright and somewhat reclined, which results in a position similar to a position of a person sitting in a beach chair.
A two-piece lateral surgical drape has been used during shoulder surgery when the patient is in the lateral position. An example of the two-piece lateral drape is shown in FIG. 1. The patient lying laterally on the surgical table is draped for surgery with the two-piece drape by separately placing one section and then the other section on the patient. Each section has a cut-out for placing the drape around the shoulder. Prior to the present invention, however, there has not been a drape designed for medical procedures when the patient is in the beach chair position for a shoulder procedure.